Campfire Chat with Alaska Chick, Welcome Back!

We are back! Welcome all, to Campfire Chat with Alaska Chick (that would be me!) and welcome back to Chisana this December of the Year of the Horse! The year we here at Pioneer Outfitters decided that to make the difference in the world we all sincerely wished to make; we would Be Fearless!

I know, I know, “Where are the Campfire Chats?” “Where are the fundraiser perks?!” “Why haven’t you been writing?”

The Campfire Chats… and the lack of posts these last few months, that is a tough one. I don’t know, maybe the wintertime blues got to me a bit early, maybe the aches and pains that didn’t fade quite as fast as I am accustomed to has something to do with it.

So, ok! It seems to be time. We had a pretty good snow and all of my excuses in line with researching topics have been fulfilled so tonight, we will begin! Roll camera, action!

Well, here we are here so let’s chat!

The Year of the Horse, 2014, has been a year of rediscovery, unrelenting self-examination and dizzy awakenings.

It is terrifying, stepping outside of one’s comfort zone and reaching for that dream that holds so many possibilities.

Possibilities, choices and changes are the stuff that both dreams are made of and the triggers of stress and nightmares.

The promise of the last frontier and untamed, unclaimed land and space and unmarked paths, leading into the wilderness of the unknown; to Be Fearless in every aspect of living our lives has been both exhilarating and exhausting.

All year long we have been focused on keeping our promise to Be Fearless. To take chances, risks and not allow our own fears to jeopardize any opportunities that came our way.

To Be Fearless in the face of any shyness or worry over how we may look to the world as we set out to share Chisana with the world and those who before we met, had no idea that Chisana was missing from their own lives.

For myself, Be Fearless meant to take what each day brought and to find the glory and blessings in it, no matter what darkness may lay hidden. It means to stand up and shout to be heard, if that is what it takes. To stay the path, even when everyone else thought I was lost.

The fundraiser perks! The Stand for the Man in Black fundraiser perks that are promised to the compassionate and generous people that contributed to the effort of getting the Man in Black back in the air ~ are coming! Yes, they are.

Yes, I know they are late, but they are coming. We, together with your help raised almost $8,000 of the $250,000.00 needed to Stand for Survival. We are still working on raising that money. The stress of not having an airplane has taken it’s toll out of each of us.

The online Shushanna General Store is a piece of one of our long range goals and is located here on this website! All, 100% of the proceeds from Stand for the Man in Black and Standing for Survival logo merchandise is sent directly into the fundraiser. Check back often! I keep adding more items and will soon be adding genuine, hand made and made in Alaska items.

Talk about having issues! The issue was looking too far from home to find what we were looking for to create the perfect merchandise that the perks promised to be. We found what we were looking for, right here in Alaska! So please keep the faith, they are coming.

What else? Oh! The Chisana News Wire was delivered as scheduled and as I opened it I was horrified to find it empty! How DOES that happen? (!)After a pick click over to AWeber, I see that it irritated five people enough that they unsubscribed and with a couple more clicks the real draft of December’s Newsletter was sent.

I am really sorry that happened and apologized through various different Social Media networks to spread the word but then sat and thought about it off and on all day. Are we so unforgiving and lacking in understanding and compassion that the slightest delay in our personal gratification can be too much to handle with grace?

Grace. Grace is exactly what the Global Rockstar Community (on Google+) offers leaders. A compassionate, caring, knowledgeable, experienced, energetic and playful group of people from all over the world. It is a Community that intends to change the world. I believe it is possible… even if it has to happen one leader at a time; no human can resist such an incredible force of nature and goodness.

One of the community’s great leaders is Nicole Levac from Quebec, Canada. She is writing a series called Lessons from Nature and the walks she takes us all on through her own nearby wilderness are wonderful. The truly amazing part though about the Lessons from Nature for myself are the magical words she puts to exactly describe the influence nature has on us all.

The new Fall Big Game Hunting Season schedule has been posted. We now have 4 (instead of 5) time frames to choose from with more time in the field to help us to help you see your dreams come true.

This changing of the Fall Hunting Schedule was a really big deal for us here at Pioneer Outfitters because we know that very little of the framework of this business has changed since 1924. The idea of lengthening the Fall Hunts has been brought up a few times in my own 22+ years with the Team and has always been shelved for more discussion.

There are two main points that tipped the scales in favor of the longer hunts and both of those points benefit others. The first, of course is that these longer time frames will give our clients more time in the field. The second point is that it will give the guides that work for Master Guide Terry Overly a few more hours between hunts to repack, reload and rest before heading back into the field with a new client.

For myself, it is another checkmark in the column marked “Reasons why I do this and love it.” (Verses the column marked “Reasons I should just give up and kill everyone.”)

One thing that can be said, by anyone at all who knows our Boss is that he cares. He cares about us, about his clients and guests, about his animals, horses, dogs and the wild critters. He cares about what people think of him and what they think of Pioneer Outfitters. He cares about how we do what we do and preserving what is good and right through the generations of time and people.

Speaking of the Boss, Master Guide Terry Overly will join us for our next chat and you should as well! We are going to chat about “Living off the Grid” and what that means as well as what living in Chisana is like and what the really hard part of living in a remote place like Chisana really is… stay tuned, the answer may surprise you!

Hey! You are here!! Is the video here too?! (By george, it better be!) The Campfire Chats are a part of the blog here, and I usually try to aim for Tuesdays, but I figured I had dwaddled long enough getting started so this one is here today! Every two weeks is our goal- any quicker and I slam the door shut on our bandwidth. I love that you are here too now, Jane! If you have any questions about who, what, where, or the biggies- WHY and HOW… just shoot them at me, on any of the Social Channels and I (or Terry and I) will answer them on the next!
Much love,
Amber-Lee, aka Alaska Chick!

Aww! Thank you, Betsy!!
2015 is upon us now and I am shaking off the drags and dregs that have been hounding me for months!
Onward!!
….maybe I should take a page out of your book and go take a dunk!
Lol, or maybe not…
Many wishes of happiness and love to you for the New Year!

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I get asked, a lot ... “Who is Alaska Chick?”

Just the girl that jumps into everything with passion and excitement. I “jumped” 20+ years ago and look where I ended up! Sharing our lives and experiences with Alaska Chick’s Blog. Here’s the real me.